Anti-social Behaviour Orders

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many women have been imprisoned for breach of an anti-social behaviour order in each of the past 10 years.

Lord West of Spithead: Anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) became available from April 1999. The latest ASBO breach data are only available for ASBOs issued between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2006. During that period, 303 women were proven in court to have breached their ASBO on at least one occasion and were given a custodial sentence on the occasion of the severest penalty.

Civil Service: Staff

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) men and (b) women are employed in each department of the non-industrial civil service.

Lord Patel of Bradford: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to Lord Stoddart of Swindon, dated December 2008.
	The Office for National Statistics collects employment statistics for the Civil Service, as part of the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES).
	The requested data are attached at annexe A.
	
		
			 Annexe A 
			 Civil Service Employment Departmental Profile 30 September 20071 
			Headcount 
			  Male Female All employees 
			 Attorney General's Departments 
			 Crown Prosecution Service 2920 5860 8780 
			 Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate 20 20 50 
			 Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers 20 30 50 
			 Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office 130 170 300 
			 Serious Fraud Office 180 130 310 
			 Treasury Solicitor 290 420 710 
			 Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
			 Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (excl agencies)2 1890 1560 3450 
			 Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service 350 440 790 
			 Companies House 470 660 1120 
			 Insolvency Service 1130 1320 2450 
			 Office of Fair Trading 300 270 570 
			 Office of Gas and Electricity Market 160 130 290 
			 Postal Services Commission 30 30 60 
			 Cabinet Office 
			 Cabinet Office (excl agencies) 690 690 1380 
			 Other Cabinet Office agencies 
			 Central Office of Information 300 370 670 
			 National School of Government 90 160 250 
			 Parliamentary Counsel Office 40 40 80 
			 HM Treasury 
			 HM Treasury 670 520 1190 
			 HM Revenue and Customs 
			 HM Revenue and Customs 38800 53310 92110 
			 Valuation Office 2270 2110 4380 
			 Chancellor's other departments 
			 Debt Management Office 60 20 80 
			 Government Actuary's Department 70 30 100 
			 National Savings and Investments 60 70 120 
			 Office of Government Commerce 140 110 250 
			 OGCbuying solutions 140 140 280 
			 Office for National Statistics3 1430 2030 3470 
			 Royal Mint 570 150 720 
			 Charity Commission 
			 Charity Commission 230 280 510 
			 Children, Schools and Families 
			 Department for Children, Schools and Families2 1490 2010 3500 
			 Innovation, Universities and Skills 
			 Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills 390 410 800 
			 National Weights and Measures Laboratory 30 20 60 
			 UK Intellectual Property Office 540 460 1010 
			 Office for Standards in Education 
			 Office for Standards in Education 740 2010 2750 
			 Communities and Local Government 
			 Department for Communities and Local Government (excl agencies)2 1470 1470 2940 
			 Fire Service College 150 100 250 
			 Ordnance Survey 1020 390 1410 
			 Planning Inspectorate 540 320 860 
			 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre 30 20 50 
			 Culture, Media and Sport 
			 Department for Culture Media and Sport2 280 240 520 
			 Royal Parks 60 40 100 
			 Defence 
			 Ministry of Defence 44110 27030 71140 
			 Royal Fleet Auxiliary 2240 110 2350 
			 Army Base Repair Organisation 1930 240 2170 
			 Defence Aviation Repair Agency4 480 160 640 
			 Defence Science and Technology Laboratory 2400 990 3390 
			 Met Office 1280 400 1680 
			 UK Hydrographic Office 690 350 1040 
			 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
			 Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (excl agencies)2 1870 1810 3680 
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 330 230 560 
			 Central Science Laboratory 350 320 670 
			 Government Decontamination Services 10 10 30 
			 Marine and Fisheries Agency 120 60 180 
			 Office of Water Services 90 120 200 
			 Pesticides Safety Directorate 100 90 190 
			 Rural Payments Agency 1750 1990 3740 
			 Animal Health 720 1010 1730 
			 Veterinary Laboratories Agency 540 780 1320 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate 60 60 140 
			 Export Credits Guarantee Department 
			 Export Credit Guarantee Department 150 70 220 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office excl agencies) 3560 2480 6070 
			 Wilton Park Executive Agency 20 60 80 
			 Health 
			 Department of Health (excl agencies) 1000 1220 2220 
			 Food Standards Agency 360 440 800 
			 Meat Hygiene Service 1100 250 1340 
			 Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 390 480 870 
			 National Healthcare Purchasing and Supplies 130 190 320 
			 NHS Business Services Authority (Civil Service only) 70 170 250 
			 Home Office 
			 Home Office (excl agencies)2 1360 1400 2760 
			 Assets Recovery Agency 100 100 190 
			 Border and Immigration Agency 8330 10320 18640 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 180 260 430 
			 Identity and Passport Service 1460 2590 4050 
			 Office for Security and Counterterrorism 130 100 230 
			 Justice 
			 Ministry of Justice (excl agencies) 1680 2010 3690 
			 HM Courts Service 6550 14910 21460 
			 Land Registry 3070 5180 8250 
			 National Archives 320 290 610 
			 Public Guardianship Office 160 170 330 
			 Tribunals Service 1100 1900 2990 
			 Scotland Office 20 10 30 
			 Wales Office 30 30 60 
			 Public Sector Prison Service 32410 17880 50300 
			 International Development 
			 Department for International Development 850 880 1740 
			 Northern Ireland Office 
			 Northern Ireland Office 70 70 150 
			 Security and Intelligence Services 
			 Security and Intelligence Services 3480 1780 5260 
			 Transport 
			 Department for Transport (excl agencies)2 1300 730 2020 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 2680 4570 7250 
			 Driving Standards Agency 1910 750 2650 
			 Government Car and Despatch Agency 260 30 290 
			 Highways Agency 2430 1050 3480 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 840 430 1270 
			 Office of Rail Regulation 220 120 340 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency 90 30 120 
			 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 1700 780 2480 
			 Work and Pensions 
			 DWP Corporate Services 2750 3010 5760 
			 DWP Shared Services 1640 3080 4730 
			 Child Support Agency 3560 8170 11730 
			 Disability and Carers Service 2060 4550 6510 
			 Jobcentre Plus 21900 52960 74860 
			 Pension Service 4410 8370 12770 
			 The Health and Safety Executive 1980 1800 3780 
			 The Rent Service 310 340 650 
			 Scottish Government 
			 Scottish Government (excl agencies) 2210 2210 4410 
			 Communities Scotland 150 260 400 
			 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service 500 1140 1630 
			 Courts Group 20 20 40 
			 Fisheries Research Services 200 130 330 
			 General Register Scotland 130 150 270 
			 HM Inspectorate of Education 60 140 200 
			 Historic Scotland 640 430 1070 
			 Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland 30 40 70 
			 National Archive for Scotland 80 70 160 
			 Office of Accountant in Bankruptcy 30 90 120 
			 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator 20 20 40 
			 Registers of Scotland 710 660 1370 
			 Scottish Agricultural Scientific Agency 70 80 150 
			 Scottish Buildings Standards Agency 20 20 30 
			 Scottish Court Service 490 800 1290 
			 Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency 260 60 320 
			 Scottish Prison Service 3090 950 4050 
			 Scottish Public Pensions Agency 100 120 220 
			 Social Work Inspection Agency 20 30 50 
			 Student Awards Agency 70 80 150 
			 Transport Scotland 170 90 260 
			 Welsh Assembly 
			 Welsh Assembly Government 2570 3460 6030 
			 ESTYN 40 60 90 
			 All employees 250410 281410 531820 
		
	
	1 Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and numbers less than five are represented by "...". Data not available are represented by "-".
	2 Includes Government Office for the Regions employees.
	3. Figures for the Office for National Statistics exclude field staff who were not civil servants at the reference date.
	4 Excluded 1,414 employees defined as "industrial".

Deaths in Custody

Lord Chadlington: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have died while on remand either awaiting trial or sentencing in the past 12 months.

Lord Bach: In total, in the 12 months ending 30 November 2008, 39 individuals have died in prison custody while awaiting trial or final sentencing. Of these 28 were on remand, seven were awaiting sentencing, two had judgment respited and two were immigration detainees. Furthermore, 29 were apparently self-inflicted and 10 were due to natural causes.

Education: Literacy

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the adult literacy levels in each region in the United Kingdom; and whether those levels are increasing or decreasing.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: The Skills for Life survey in 2003 estimated the literacy and numeracy levels and functional ability of adults in England. For completeness the table below provides the regional breakdown of functional literacy and numeracy levels across England. These data are also publicly available for local areas (and other localities from GORs down to ward level) at www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus_skillsforlifesurvey.
	
		
			 UK Region Percentage of adults with functional numeracy levels*as at 2003 Percentage of adults with functional literacy levels** as at 2003 
			 East Midlands 77 84 
			 East of England 84 87 
			 London 76 80 
			 North East 73 78 
			 North West 75 83 
			 South East Region 83 88 
			 South West 88 87 
			 West Midlands 78 83 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 78 87 
		
	
	*The Leitch definition of functional numeracy is adults with entry level 3 or above
	** The Leitch definition of functional literacy is adults with level 1 and above
	We cannot currently measure change in levels of literacy or numeracy as the Skills for Life survey has not been repeated. However since 2003 there has been a year-on-year increase in the numbers of people improving their literacy and numeracy skills. Since the launch of the Skills for Life strategy in 2001, 2,276,000 adults have improved their skills and gained first qualifications in literacy, language and numeracy. Over 1 million of those qualifications came in literacy.

Energy: Coal-fired Power Stations

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what they anticipate the lead times for building new coal-fired stations will be.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: In the Government's Energy Markets Outlook, published in October 2007, we indicated that the lead time for a coal-fired power station could be expected to be around seven years, of which four to five years would be needed for construction.

Energy: Coal-fired Power Stations

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the building of new coal-fired power stations.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government published their overall assessment of future security of supply in their Energy Markets Outlook in October 2007, including scenarios for new generation capacity. This is available at www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/ energy/ energymarketsoutlook/page41839.html. The 2008 Energy Markets Outlook will be published shortly.

Energy: Generation Capacity

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any energy gap due to the decommissioning of 15-20 gigawatts of generating capacity by 2015.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We expect around 12 gigawatts of oil- and coal-fired generation to close by 2015, as a result of the large combustion plants directive (LCPD), with a further 7 gigawatts of nuclear plant scheduled to close by 2020.
	The market is already responding to the challenge of replacing the plant with significant new generating capacity already in the process of being delivered:
	9 gigawatts of new capacity is presently under construction;a further 3 gigawatts has consent; andapplications for consent are outstanding for nearly 4.5 gigawatts more.
	However, more is needed and we will ensure the right regulatory framework continues to be in place to bring this forward.

Health: ADHD

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on (a) classroom learning, (b) families, and (c) educational attainment.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what training is available to teachers to enable them to identify and manage children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: (a) Schools and local authorities are statutorily required to have regard to the SEN code of practice for children and young people whose ADHD entails special educational needs (SEN). The code says that local authorities should have effective arrangements in place to ensure the needs of children and young people with SEN are assessed quickly and matched by appropriate provision, and that schools must do their best to ensure necessary provision is made for pupils with SEN.
	(b) Agencies addressing children's needs are encouraged to work closely with parents and carers. For example, schools and local authorities are statutorily required to have regard to the special educational needs (SEN) code of practice; the code stresses the importance of all professionals (in schools, local authorities and other agencies) actively seeking to work with parents, valuing the contribution they make. The code also reminds local authorities that Section 332A of the Education Act 1996 requires them to arrange for the parent of any child in their area with special educational needs to be provided with advice and information about matters relating to those needs.
	(c) In September 2008, my department published data on attainment of pupils at school action plus and with statements, during the 2006-07 academic year, at key stages 2 and 4 by primary type of SEN. The proportions of children with BESD (which would include children with ADHD) achieving expected levels of attainment, compared with children with no identified SEN, are shown in a table at annexe 1.
	In September 2008, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued a clinical guideline which healthcare professionals are expected to take fully into account when exercising their clinical judgment. The guideline is clear that diagnosis of ADHD should only be made by a specialist psychiatrist, paediatrician or other appropriately qualified healthcare professional with training and expertise in ADHD, and gives guidance to professionals on appropriate treatment and multiagency interventions.
	All schools have responsibility for ensuring teachers and other staff receive the training and development necessary to manage particular needs. We are strengthening coverage of SEN and disability issues within initial teacher training. In June 2008 we launched new units for primary undergraduate initial teacher training courses. These include material for sessions entitled "Introducing behavioural, emotional and social difficulties" and "Planning for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties". Around £500,000 has been pledged to support incorporation into existing courses. Similar material is in preparation for secondary undergraduate initial teacher training courses and postgraduate certificate in education primary and secondary courses, for release in 2009.
	The national strategies make available to teachers a continuing professional development (CPD) scheme, which includes study materials on addressing BESD. The department has also commissioned the national strategies to produce and disseminate inclusion development programme CPD materials to build school workforce confidence in addressing a range of special educational needs. These materials currently focus on communications difficulties and dyslexia. In 2009 they will focus on autism, and in 2010 they will focus on BESD, including ADHD.
	Guidance on educating children and young people experiencing behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) was published in May 2008. It is designed to help school staff and local authority officers consider what support and provision are most likely to help remove barriers to achievement, health and emotional well-being for those children who are experiencing persistent behavioural, emotional and social difficulties—including children with ADHD. The guidance reminds school staff of advice contained in our 2001 guidance on Promoting Children's Mental Health within Early Years and Schools Settings. This sets out general information on how mental health problems present in children and practical suggestions on what classroom interventions can support children in addressing associated difficulties.
	
		
			 Annexe 1 Proportions of children achieving expected levels of attainment at key stages 2 and 4, 2006-07 academic year 
			  KS2 English level 4 and above KS2 Maths level 4 and above KS2 Science level 4 and above KS4 5A*-C including English and Maths 
			 Children with BESD, at school action plus 50% 51% 70% 7.4% 
			 Children with BESD, with statements 29% 32% 51% 2.5% 
			 Children with no identified SEN 92% 88% 95% 53.9% 
		
	
	Source: DCSF: National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE and Equivalent Assessment and Post-16 Assessment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2006-07
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgatewav/DB/SFR/s000759/index.shtml

Northern Ireland Office: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government who set the objectives for D2 to A grade staff in the Northern Ireland Office to receive bonuses; on what basis; and whether they will place copies of the objectives in the Library of the House.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Individuals' objectives against which bonuses are awarded are set out in their personal performance agreements, which are agreed with their line manager. These reflect the departmental objectives set out in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007, a copy of which can be found at www.nio. gov.uk/comprehensive_spending_review_-_psas_and_dsas_for_nio.pdf. Copies of performance agreements for each individual staff member from grade D2 to A could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Northern Ireland Office: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government in calculating bonus figures for officials in the Northern Ireland Office, what regard is paid to their application of equality and parity of esteem for the two communities in Northern Ireland; and in what way and by whom it is assessed.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: All officials in the Northern Ireland Office are expected to reflect the principles of equality of opportunity, parity of esteem and equity of treatment in all aspects of their work. This does not form a separate criterion in relation to the award of bonuses.

Northern Ireland Office: Taxis

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the first four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when it was made; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the second four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when it was made; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the third four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the fourth four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the fifth four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the sixth four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the seventh four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 11 November (WA 123) concerning expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office on taxis, by whom each journey in the eighth four weeks of financial year 2007—08 was made; when; to where; at what cost; and for what purpose.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Much of the information requested constitutes personal data which if released would breach the first principle of the Data Protection Act 1998, namely the fair and lawful processing of personal data. As none of the conditions in Schedule 2 to the Data Protection Act is met to authorise fair and lawful disclosure, the information requested is not available for release.

Northern Ireland Parades Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Northern Ireland Office paid taxes in respect of members of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission up to 2005; and whether it at any stage expected the board members also to pay taxes.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: No. Following a routine inspection by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and clarification of the commissioners' status a payment was made by the department to HMRC to meet the department's liability in respect of tax and national insurance contributions from 1997-2005. The department cannot comment on individuals' tax position but has no reason to believe that individual parades commissioners have not paid their respective individual tax and national insurance contributions for the same period.

Olympic Games 2012: Broadcasting

Lord Inglewood: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the 2012 Olympic Games will be shown on free-to-view United Kingdom television.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Yes, the 2012 Olympics will be shown on free-to-view television in the UK.

Olympic Games 2012: Soil and Waste Material

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 24 November (WA 255-56), how much contaminated and non-contaminated soil and waste material has been removed from the Stratford Olympic Park site (a) by rail, (b) by road and (c) by water.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Of a total 2.3 million cubic metres (m3) of material which will be excavated on the Olympic Park, it is anticipated that 920,000 m3 of this will be contaminated material in need of remediation. Based on current trends, it is anticipated that no more than 15 per cent (about 330,000 m3) of the total 2.3 million m3 of excavated material will go off-site as waste to landfills because it is contaminated material or non-treatable/geotechnically unsuitable material.
	To date, no contaminated or non-contaminated soil and waste material has been removed by rail or water. The ODA has removed 80,000 m3 of hazardous, untreatable, and geotechnically unsuitable—but waste acceptance criteria (WAC) compliant—material by road, and 190,000 m3 of filter cake, including entrained water, by road.
	Off-site disposal of some material is necessary because either it is not practical to reuse the material—non-treatable or geotechnically unsuitable for reuse—or because it is hazardous material which cannot remain on-site.

Olympic Games 2012: Equestrian Events

Lord Inglewood: To ask Her Majesty's Government to what height above ground level it will be necessary to prune the trees in Greenwich Park in order to accommodate equestrian events in the 2012 Olympic Games.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has publicly committed to minimising the impact of the equestrian events in Greenwich Park and to developing the course on the basis of an arboricultural (tree) assessment, submitted as part of town planning. The Royal Parks is responsible for trees in Greenwich Park and will be working with LOCOG to ensure that pruning that takes place on any tree is consistent with normal tree husbandry, whereby trees are managed to preserve the landscape, for conservation and for public safety.

Pensions

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what grounds the accrued pension entitlements of an employee of central or local government can be reduced or annulled.

Lord Myners: An accrued pension entitlement under an occupational pension scheme is a property right protected by the European Convention on Human Rights: it cannot be forfeited except in the public interest and in accordance with the law.
	Under Sections 92 to 94 of the Pensions Act 1995 an accrued pension entitlement pension generally cannot be forfeited, but this is subject to certain exceptions and the Act permits a public service pension scheme to withhold the whole or part of a pension in certain circumstances. These include where a member owes a debt to the employer or the pension scheme; where a member has been convicted of treason; where a member has been convicted of an offence under the Official Secrets Acts for which the person has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment totalling at least 10 years; or where a member has been convicted of an offence committed in connection with the member's employment where a Minister of the Crown has certified that the commission of the offence has been gravely injurious to the interests of the state or is liable to lead to a serious loss of confidence in the public service.
	The precise terms in which individual public service pension schemes provide for forfeiture are matters for those responsible for the rules of the individual schemes.

Prisons: Population

Lord Chadlington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what projections they have of the prison population over the next 10 years; and what plans they have to respond to those projections.

Lord Bach: The latest projections for the prison population were published on 18 September, in the Ministry of Justice statistics bulletin Prison Population Projections 2008-15. The projections estimate the demand for prison places for the next seven years in three different scenarios. Under these scenarios, the prison population (at the end of June) is projected to be:
	
		
			 Year High Medium Low 
			 2009 85,100 84,300 83,300 
			 2010 88,100 86,400 84,400 
			 2011 90,500 87,900 85,100 
			 2012 92,100 88,700 85,000 
			 2013 93,000 88,600 84,100 
			 2014 94,200 89,000 83,600 
			 2015 95,800 89,700 83,400 
		
	
	We are responding to expected rises in the prison population by pursuing an extensive building programme, which is designed to increase capacity in the prison estate to 96,000 places by 2014. We have also taken a number of measures, recommended by Lord Carter in his review of prisons and enacted in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, to ensure that the use of custody is better focused on those serious, dangerous and seriously persistent offenders for whom it is appropriate and necessary.

Railways: Wheelchair Users

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 20 November (WA 227), what provisions are available for the accommodation of wheelchairs at the point of entry onto trains from the platform, as opposed to general access to the station.

Lord Adonis: Regulations covering the accessibility of all new rail vehicles have been in place since 1998. These specify a number of features to assist disabled people when accessing these vehicles, including the provision of boarding devices to facilitate access for wheelchair users.
	There are currently over 4,750 regulated rail vehicles in service. All rail vehicles must be accessible by no later than 1 January 2020.

Transport: Heavy Goods Vehicles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 24 November (WA 277-78), what studies have been undertaken to determine the number of lorries registered before 2000 whose near side door and mirror frame construction are not capable of carrying the improved mirror systems required for newer lorries under Directive 2007/38.

Lord Adonis: No UK studies have been undertaken. However, a study carried out on behalf of the European Union in preparation for the retro-fit legislation, A Cost/Benefit Analysis on Blind Spot Mirrors by the Jacobs Consultancy, indicated that earlier vehicle mirror systems may not be suitable for updating. Our contacts within the manufacturing and transport industries have also advised us that earlier vehicles were generally designed and constructed to save weight, so their design may not be able to cope with additional mirrors.